The Wind Style Shinobi of Konoha
by Frostfyre Fox
Summary: Despite many precautions Minato took when he prepared to seal the Kyuubi into his son, Minato failed to take into account the potency of his own blood in comparison to the Uzumaki blood that quelled the negative effects of the Kyuubi. Despite this, not all is lost, despite the parting shot by the Kyuubi, Naruto will grow into a powerful shinobi of his own right.


Chapter 01: When you assume...

Outline Summary: Naruto is made into the third jinchuriki for Kurama, the nine tailed demon fox, however due to the prevalence of Minato's genes he isn't protected from one final act of rebellion by the beast. No longer having 'normal' chakra, Naruto is revealed to be a host of 100% wind-natured chakra, streamlining his enrollment into the shinobi academy.

**Author's Note: Specter of Konoha isn't going to be continued. When I initially wrote the first chapter it was intended to be a single chapter, a concept if you will. It was a story that I thought would be cool, but had no intention of writing, hoping I could inspire someone else to write the story that I lacked the drive to write myself. That said, I let myself be bullied into continuing by reviews instead of just stating outright what my intention was. While it isn't the worst story I've ever written it is something that I lack any real drive to complete. The story itself is up for adoption if you want it, and I won't argue the point. Jupiter's Maelstrom is being written, but I intend to write the entire story before uploading even a single chapter.**

**For this story there are some points to note that are a bit different from canon (at least what I'm aware canon establishes). The Henge (transformation technique) is purely an illusion technique, outside of Naruto's which is a true transformation. This is mainly because while the Henge is treated as a distraction technique and seems to be dispelled with minimal effort (by other users) Naruto however is able to be interacted with while not being knocked out of his Henge (see Sasuke throwing him like he was actually a fuma shuriken).**

**Singular Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters and make 0 monies off of this work of pure fiction.**

Fire, smoke, screams of fear and death, and the acrid smell of burning flesh filled the night air of Konoha that night, eight years ago. As the fearsome beast, the nine-tailed demon fox, known by the moniker 'Kyuubi' by the various shinobi dotted across the elemental nations. The beast had, for reasons still unknown, shown up completely out of the blue in the center of the village and had it not been for some incredibly quick mobilization by the third Hokage, the village would have been both completely defenseless and crushed under the beast. Using a strategy that implemented most of the village's shinobi forces' unique abilities and their willingness to work together to push the monumental beast to the village's outskirts to help the fourth Hokage to take it to a point where the devastation could be minimized.

As the beast was almost to the planned area the Kyuubi, in an act of pure rage at the impudence of the mortals delaying its assault, prepared to fire a condensed ball of pure energy directly into the forces that were slowly driving it away. As the blast was launched from the beasts impressive maw, the fourth Hokage appeared in a flash of light, as the blast vanished alongside his sudden arrival. In a clearing many miles away the blast impacted with the ground, causing an explosion which was felt still at the village. With a glare from the young leader Minato Namikaze, vanished again in a flash of golden light only to reappear and once more vanish with the Kyuubi disappearing with it. As the beast vanished, the people felt the oppressive air vanish and the heat lower exponentially as the force of nature turned sentient being left their area.

The young leader, Minato Namikaze, that night took a gamble he had prepared many fail safes for. He turned his son into a jinchuriki, a container for the beast that was attacking his beloved village. One failing he had not taken into account however, was the one that would ultimately change his son drastically from what he imagined would occur. Minato had, with various different people and seals, insured that even if Naruto was, for whatever reason, treated as anything other than the hero he wished him to be treated as, set up several backups that would assist Naruto's continued and safe existence throughout his childhood as well as until he was able to enter his now dying father's abode where he would come into an inheritance many could only dream of. Unfortunately, the one thing Minato hadn't taken into account was genetics, there were many writings and whispers that the Kyuubi, as mighty a beast as it were, would only be able to be safely sealed within an Uzumaki and the few times that an Uzumaki wasn't used in the sealing, well suffice to say that the host didn't last long. Naruto was an interesting case being a half-blooded Uzumaki but the blood of the 'clan of longevity' had been suppressed by his father's blood, rendering him more vulnerable to the beast's currently sinister state.

As the enraged entity was being dragged into yet another prison, he cursed the child with rage ignited by his powerless state against both the god of death and yet another Uzumaki, "**You and I will be as one, forces untamed by mortal bounds. May your entire being fall into your element, as fire ignites my core, may yours fan my power onwards! Young prison, shall your power be untamed until you understand the very nature of what you are!**"

Had anyone but the Professor heard these words ripping the air around the young child, Naruto probably would have never been told when he was four of his status as the jinchuriki of the nine-tailed demon fox. After all, not many besides the elderly third Hokage truly believed in the old superstitions anymore, a strange thought considering the many Shinto shrines still dotting the land, and the knowledge that there were techniques that could summon the death god along with several lesser kami that were known throughout the land. Fortunately though the boy was well on his way to understanding exactly what it meant to be a jinchuriki, even if even the Professor was ignorant to what that meant.

The boy in question, young Naruto Uzumaki was currently sitting in his meagerly stocked apartment meditating. At least, that is what it appeared from the view of his ANBU guard who was posted to make sure the leaf's less visible elements decided that Naruto would serve a purpose greater in something like the research and development division under Orochimaru or, Izanagi help the nations, in the shadow cell of root under Danzo. Ignorant to these threats or concerned for the set of eyes on him Naruto delved deep into his mind to sit cross-legged in the middle of a lush forest that only existed in his mind. As he sat and waited a huge beast, towering above any building the boy had ever seen came the Kyuubi in its full glory, before it too sat in front of the boy, a surprising look of happiness on its face as it looked at the boy in front of it.

'_**Perhaps, that curse I rendered on the brat was for the best, the old monkey that ruled the village was smart in revealing everything from day one. The mindless residents who are so enamored with the boy's father wouldn't dare doubt his ability as a seal's master to keep me at bay. Of course his omission of my curse was also a brilliant move; though his compliance to the boy in order to truly become what he is today...a strange human that one**_**.**'

Unaware of the monologue going on within the Kyuubi's mind, Naruto opened his eyes and presented a fist to the massive fox, hoping he had finally earned the return gesture. Over the past four years, after Naruto had been originally induced into his mind scape to meet his prisoner turned partner, he had expected many things after telling it his plan only to be shocked by the creature's equal look of shock. Was it truly so rare for someone to wish to know what he was instead of what he could do for them? He was aware he wasn't the first jinchuriki of the Kyuubi but he was mildly surprised that none of his previous containers had sought a partnership with him. While at times harsh and rarely in a praising mood, the Kyuubi was arguably one of the most fair opinions Naruto would ever get. Pointing out any flaws in his arguments or thoughts while still allowing him the freedom of making mistakes and learning naturally.

Kyuubi on the other hand stared at the fist and utilizing its second unique ability that it was capable of gifting (*1), reached into the deepest core of Naruto's emotions, dredging up whatever the boy was truly feeling about the situation. Before today there was always that sliver of hesitation, a waning presence that the ancient entity would supersede the boy's consciousness and escape, but today was different. Instead of the normal hesitance or fear the being found something that finally allowed himself to acknowledge the boy in front of him, a confusion and borderline disgust at the way people refused to try to know the Kyuubi before deciding he was who he was.

With a feral grin and a slow movement, the Kyuubi raised an incredibly humanoid hand towards Naruto's now dwarfed appendage. As the fists came in contact Naruto's world exploded into a world of power, euphoria and emotion, something he wasn't aware would ever happen. The one thing that stood out above all the various emotions he felt surrounding him as far as he could feel (which unaware to him was slightly larger than the village radius), the happiness from the Kyuubi in front of him.

"**Boy, no, Naruto, allow me to be the first to congratulate you on this impressive feat. You have finally allayed your fears of me simply using you to get out. Your father, for his various faults and shortcomings when it came to being a man, was a prodigy that would rival any Uzumaki when it came to his seal work. To that end I would have been destroyed at even the attempt to take down the seal at this stage in your life. I didn't tell you this for obvious reasons at the time but to make them clear, my partnership with you must be built on absolute trust; if one of us cannot trust the other then the entire thing is pointless. It is because of your ability to let it go I will allow you my name, which will give you the gifts you have earned from me.**"

Naruto looked on at the Kyuubi, a grin on his face and a burden lifted on his heart, the Kyuubi sounded incredibly pleased but also relieved as though he feared it would take much longer for this trust to be established.

"**My name, Naruto, is Kurama and it was given to me by the single human prior to our meeting that truly earned my respect aside from my father. His name was Ashura and despite any future failings between the two of us, our relationship was started when we were both young and full of hope for the future. We believed in nothing more than hard work, an honest word, and a kind gesture and for a while we were proven right. Despite my own fall into a cycle of cynicism and hatred, young Ashura always believed I would find my way once more, something I cursed his existence for. You, however, have broken through that very barrier I had erected around myself, and because of this you have earned the right to be the first **_**true**_** jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. You will find yourself able to detect emotion and to a lesser extent to push your own emotions onto those around you, giving you the abilities of an empath, when you and I merge our chakra to fight you will become immune to all fire type attacks but when we are separate or I am resting, fire will be your greatest weakness. As I told you when you started to try to become my partner, I cursed you on the day of your birth, to be, in essence, every bit a bijuu as human. You have none of what your kind considers normal chakra; your chakra is and always will be nothing more than refined wind elemental chakra and though you can learn 'normal' techniques your chakra will always affect them in some way or form.**"

Naruto nodded, taking in the new information as well as reaffirming the old he had received already, "So, Kurama, just so I know I never overstep my boundaries and call upon you for something you would consider trivial, what would be acceptable situations to call on your chakra?"

"**You may call on my chakra only when your life truly hangs in the balance, and let me be clear on what I mean by that. In a fight, or around the village you may call on my chakra if, and only if, you have exhausted whatever other means you have for self-preservation and death still remains unavoidable. Even then, with this condition know that we may very well one day come upon a threat that even united we are unable to beat. On that day we will both die.**"

Naruto stared at Kurama, a bit of nervousness on his face at the incredibly blunt way the fox spoke of his own demise with not but an acknowledgment of its inevitability. "Would...would it be okay if I continued to visit you everyday? I know I might be busy sometimes...but I think I'd miss our heart to hearts here in my head. We talk when I'm on the outside I know...but there's something...more...to being able to see the person I'm talking to, y'know?"

Kurama stared the boy down before a grin erupted on his face, the feeling of joy that had been slowly subsiding blooming back into effect full force around the now smiling young boy, "**Naruto, I would be more than willing to play host to your visits whenever you manage them. I look forward to seeing how you grow and progress throughout your career. For now though, I believe it's time for you to go see the Sandaime and have him test your chakra, it's now properly set into your system and available for you to learn. Be prepared for a rather arduous experience in the academy, you are essentially going to have to reverse engineer several jutsu just to be able to use them with your...volatile...chakra.**"

At the tower in the center of the village sat the village's leader, Hiruzen Sarutobi; a man who had retaken the mantle of Hokage after the unfortunate demise of his successor turned predecessor Minato Namikaze. As he sat in his office discussing current issues with his advisory counsel he was alerted, via a short series of chakra bursts that Naruto would be at the tower within the hour for something. With a small sigh Sarutobi locked eyes with his one-time rival Danzo Shimura, the leader of the villages' dirty secret known as 'Root'.

"You have clearance to begin your investigation Danzo, make sure Root minimizes its contact with the regular forces, while our jounin are brought into the circle of knowledge, there are still too many security holes to allow our chunin and genin forces to become aware of a _second_ set of ANBU out there. The Uchiha compound, especially with this possibility looming, is not a place we would do well to have to reveal their existence at. Also, do tell, how is young Sai doing these days?"

Danzo nodded once, the other members behind him sitting back, their affairs with civilian businesses and the like minimally important in light of the potential situation in front of them kept their senses sharp, their many years of 'retirement' doing little to keep their deadly edge from them, after all you didn't survive to your elder years in the world of shinobi without being able to fight off attackers at any age.

"Thank you Hokage-sama, I understand your hesitance in this situation, a clan turning traitor would severely weaken our military alongside our image in the world. As for young Sai, he has completed his initial induction into the program and I am currently stepping up his training in his unique ninjutsu style. He should be ready for more low-key insertion missions soon."

Hiruzen nodded, noting the pride that Danzo allowed to filter into his voice; the man truly cared for his forces and for Konoha and while the two often butted heads on exactly what that meant for the good of the village, he could trust no other man to watch his back from the shadows then his long time rival and friend from his own genin days.

"Very well Danzo, see to it that I get weekly updates on all your forces and daily updates, when permitted, on this surveillance mission. Now, please Homura and Koharu, the update on the civilian businesses and any pertinent requests that may need to be elevated beyond this infernal bureaucracy our teacher put in place." His words, while being said with a chuckle brought a grimace to the occupants of the room, including the hidden ANBU guards, the paperwork that was created did weed out most superfluous and asinine requests, but the quantity of it could be daunting around festival times and the chunin exams when they were held.

"Well," Homura began, "the trade guilds have expressed a desire to increase the tariffs on goods they produce, of course, which has already been crushed, but other than that they have more or less managed to stabilize our economy finally after the damages caused by the Kyuubi attack."

Koharu nodded, "On the side of the craftsmen guilds, they've started to supply surplus that doesn't have to be mostly exported to help support the recovery effort and the blacksmiths specifically have been adding into the armory at a faster rate for the past week or so. We're now sitting at around 400% surplus for our currently active shinobi."

Hiruzen nodded before turning to a corner and making a motion with his hand, as an incredibly pale man seemed to materialize from the shadows, "And you Orochimaru, how have your experiments come along with the assistance of our detainees and your new pension that's now set to increase since the funds aren't needed elsewhere?"

Orochimaru pulled out several small folders and passed them around to each of the elders and the Hokage before smiling slightly, a look that would have been sinister if the man had been willing to put in the effort.

"Well thanks to our assistants' gracious contributions I've finally figured out a stable version of 'Serum CC' as well as finalized the measurements for our new chakra readout system that we've given to the academy chunin. Using the clone technique as a baseline, we've established that the average civilian has around 30 units of chakra; which is also around 5-10 units more than the bare minimum the human body requires to function, dependent largely on age of the person in question. This will help us greatly in creating more specialized curriculum within the academy and for hopefully teaching some of the students some more field-ready moves than the basic 'Academy Three'. Beyond that we've managed to identify the particular strain of disease that young Juugo has and we've placed a request to recall Tsunade to help us both cure and replicate it. While in a normal shinobi the disease has several nasty side effects, such as the boy's fits of rage and bodily transformations, the disease also causes the host to filter in Natural energy passively, something like this would be able to counteract the genetic disease that around 10% of our forces suffers from that prevents their tenketsu from being fully opened to fully mould their chakra."

Hiruzen nodded as he and the elders read through the files, becoming increasingly interested as they got further in.

"Consider the recall order sent, while some shinobi like jounin Might Gai manage to adapt and become powerful shinobi in their own right, there's absolutely no reason to not offer this as an alternative to those who are essentially born to a life sentence of genin service to their village. In other news I would like you to remain here when the elders leave, it would seem that young Naruto is on his way here and I'd like to see if your machine can handle the strain of the boy's system. Our previous technology overloaded the few times we attempted to get a read on his system and if we can't get a proper one made soon any potential he might have will be squandered due to the prerequisite reading required for academy entry."

Orochimaru nodded as the elders prepared to leave, as they were at the door Danzo turned and looked at his rival who he had, many years ago sworn to overtake simply due to his own insecurities; yet after the amount of time the two had worked together and seeing Hiruzen's willingness to put even his own heart aside when the time most called for it he noticed his personal ambition for the chair waning rapidly, with a mental nod to himself he cleared his throat and got the leader's attention.

"Hanzo contacted me about a potential contract of my forces, apparently a small rebel group has cropped up in Ame, and the man feels that a precision strike would be the most effective way to clear the group from his own village. I hold no love for that man, but a potential ally such as the Salamander would not be something to simply turn away from."

Hiruzen steepled his hand in front of his face as he thought about the statement and the potential, both good and bad that granting such a request could have but before he could contemplate the deal further the side of him that Danzo had originally been enthralled by cropped up and offered its own input and as the elder leader looked Danzo in the eye, the rivals knew that for once their minds were in complete sync on the action to take.

"Hanzo, while a great potential ally, has been a thorn in our side through three separate shinobi wars and I am loathe to allow him to maintain such a position should a fourth ever come to pass. I want you to remove him Danzo, and not just him, I want nothing of Ame left standing when you are done; even their fields are to be barren for years when you are done. Failure here is not an option and I don't have to remind you of the consequences should this action EVER reach the general public. Jiraiya will meet your men on Ame's borders, he has more than enough connections to get you into the village. Do not tell him why they're going in, the boy has surpassed the lot of us in this room in many ways, but he cannot do what must be done when the situation calls for it most. As much as it pains me to say it, his bleeding heart will destroy the mission before it begins should he catch wind of your plans. Suffice to say he will be debriefed in full when you send him back to Konoha, but until that time I cannot risk him tipping the enemy off in any manner."

Danzo nodded and left the room, Orochimaru looking at his sensei with the respect he had developed for the man, especially after the initial discovery of his experiments came to light before he had successfully hidden them.

"Jiraiya won't be happy with you old man, he may very well turn traitor when he finds out what he was used for."

Hiruzen looked at Orochimaru with an expression that made Orochimaru suddenly feel as though he was but a child in a room filled with adults talking shop.

"No Orochimaru, he won't go rogue over this. Despite his inability to put his heart aside when he is there in person, Jiraiya has always been the one to keep his head on straight after the fact or when he is personally removed from the events. It was his council that allowed you to be moved to R&D in the first place instead of banished. He was appalled at what you were doing, but more importantly he saw the importance of what you were doing and how it could be applied to Konoha to bolster her strengths. There are few people who would beat you should I choose a successor today, and Jiraiya is one of them, if only for that singular fact. As Hokage, I can't be involved in much of anything that my shinobi do on a daily basis, but it is in _that_ exact situation that Jiraiya's cool head comes into play. That and out of the two of you, his work for the village is something that is easily passed to another up and coming spymaster, something you're aware of us holding several, including your young protege Kabuto, but your particular work requires far too much training to simply 'pass the torch'."

Orochimaru, for his credit, didn't get upset at the admission from his teacher, long suspecting that Jiraiya had a much better shot at candidacy for the Hokage chair than he ever would but another question was brought to his mind as he remembered that the Hokage has said he would be recalling Tsunade.

"How exactly are you planning on bringing her back so easily anyways sensei? While I won't deny you've always been a crafty old man, there has never been many times you've been able to convince Tsunade to do something she didn't want to do."

Hiruzen gave off a wry smile, casting himself as every bit the devious old man he had grown into over his many years, "Simple Orochimaru. She will be given a choice, return to Konoha with a single mission before being inducted as the head of the new med-nin program or be returned to Konoha with a single mission before being sealed of all of her chakra. For all of her many strengths she will not risk her own play for vanity simply to escape her past. She was always a bit odd in that way."

Orochimaru barked out a laugh even as the door opened, the occupants of the office well aware of his upcoming entrance due to the chakra pulses being sent moments before and as Naruto walked into the office he greeted the elderly leader he had known for so long in a way that made Orochimaru laugh even louder, having never seen the child before today.

"OLD MAN!"

As Hiruzen leveled a halfhearted glare towards both Orochimaru and Naruto he sighed before pulling out his pipe and igniting the tobacco in it with a minor fire jutsu masked by a wave of his hand.

"Well, if it isn't young Naruto. What can this 'old man' do for you today?"

"Well..." Naruto started, casting none-to-subtle glances at Orochimaru who rolled his eyes, even as the Hokage nodded to Naruto, "Kyuubi told me my chakra should have stabilized enough for a reading but told me that I don't have normal chakra at all. That might have been what broke your machines before!"

Now both the Hokage and Orochimaru were all ears as they leaned forwards as Naruto, with all the excitement that only an eight-year-old child could possibly conjure, told them the news that his chakra was essentially nothing more than a giant pool of wind-natured chakra stopped behind the tap that was his chakra circulatory system. As he finished he stared at them, catching his breath, waiting for their reaction and to see if the old man would do as he promised and get him into the academy.

"Very well then, Orochimaru please get a reading on young Naruto; he'll be the very first person we measure on the new scale (the 'in public' being withheld due to the young boy standing in their presence) and while he won't ever be able to be used as a baseline measurement, we can at least use these readings to find out just how many control exercises will need to be worked into his stint in the academy."

Orochimaru nodded, pressing a few small buttons on the side of his machine, specifically setting it to take on aspects of fire-natured chakra in order to reduce damage Naruto's chakra would cause. After doing so, he pulled a small metal orb connected by a coppery wire to the main box that composed the machine's body and handed it to Naruto.

"Alright Naruto, I need you to grab onto the metal ball and relax, the machine will send a few pulses of chakra into your system and 'listen' to the response to get as accurate a read on your chakra as possible. This'll take some time given what we know of your chakra so far and when we're done we'll get you enrolled into the academy with post haste."

Having said his little speech he had programmed into himself to tell each individual child (minus the specific address of course) that would grab the machine to prevent them from doing something that could cause it to malfunction or get an inaccurate reading he pressed another button the machine's casing and waited as the machine hummed to life, before it did it's job.

All the occupants in the room watched as the readout on the opposite side of the buttons began to increment, slowly at first, until it started jumping by 100s then 1000s until the readout rested, finally, on 1000000cu.

"Well Naruto, you have approximately one million units of chakra inside your young body right now. As you grow so will that number and we'll need to schedule regular, yearly readings to keep up with both your growth and to fine tune your curriculum as you progress through the academy. I will say this much, if what we...estimated...about some other readouts of chakra are accurate you have roughly the same chakra as most newly promoted jounin. Now before you start getting yourself a big head, this means that your control will likely be so atrocious that for every individual unit you attempt to use in a given technique you're likely to waste as much as a thousand units. So while your chakra levels may seem impressive at first, even using the clone technique, which uses the least amount of chakra of any known ninjutsu to date, would drain you of around thirty thousand chakra units; which if we look at it like this; you're just about where we need you to be for safe entry into the advanced academy."

Naruto listened as Orochimaru explained the various things his chakra readout meant and could mean and was hanging off of every word of it, even as Orochimaru began to go off on several tangents about chakra and ninjutsu techniques that had and hadn't been invented that he had seen and what they would all mean in relative measurements when put up against Naruto's reserves. After around thirty minutes of the man lecturing the boy, who at this point was staring at Orochimaru star-eyed as though he had discovered the greatest person to ever exist, Hiruzen cleared his throat, causing Orochimaru, who had just realized how much time he had spent talking to the boy about his own passion in ninjutsu, to blush slightly, though with his pale complexion it wasn't easy to hide and looked something akin to someone dusting red sand all over the man's face.

"In any case Naruto, the reading has been finished and your enrollment into the academy will be pushed through by tomorrow. Be sure to make it to the academy by noon in a month to begin your studies. Until then, if you ever need to talk, make an appointment with my secretary and I'll do my best to make time for you, okay?"

Naruto, unaware of just how important that particular promise was being a child, simply nodded his head before heading out of the office towards his apartment complex, greeting the various villagers he met along the way with varying levels of joy, all of which brought amused expressions to the citizens who had been more or less indoctrinated on exactly what kind of a hero the boy was. As he finally made it to his apartment, Naruto felt himself incredibly tired, falling to sleep easily and dreaming of the many adventures he would get to have as a shinobi in the near enough future.


End file.
